8 Courageous People Whose Actions Broke the Cool-o-Meter

These people lived an ordinary life and went to work. But once, they faced a situation when the lives of others and even their own depended on their decision. They disarmed a criminal, made a dream come true, and became heroes.

Bright Side collected stories of different people who faced and overcame challenges and inspired the world. There’s also a bonus at the end — a story of a mother who wanted her son to become more confident.

8. A student saved his classmates during a school shooting.

Anthony Borges is a 15-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school where 17 people were killed in a shooting. He saved 20 classmates by barricading the door to try to keep the gunman from entering the classroom. The boy was shot 5 times but he survived and now he’s recovering in the hospital. Internet users have already collected $743,000 to support him.

7. In 20 years of service, a policeman dissuaded 200 people from committing suicide.

Policeman Kevin Briggs has been patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge for more than 20 years. Unfortunately, this bridge is one of the most popular places to commit suicide. His colleagues estimated that Kevin dissuaded people who wanted to end up their life about twice a month. You can watch Kevin’s interview on TED.

6. A surgeon performed 5 operations in 28 hours.

Everyone knows that being a doctor is an exhausting and hard job. Surgeon Luo Heng performed 5 operations during his 28-hour shift. He performed 2 emergency surgeries overnight and then 3 more the following morning. After his extremely long shift, Heng just fell asleep on the hospital floor.

5. A 16-year-old girl traveled to the North and South Poles, though she’d never skied before.

16-year-old Jade Hameister makes her dreams come true: the girl traveled to the North Pole walking 90 miles across the area with severe conditions and extremely low temperatures and carrying a heavy sled. She then crossed Greenland, visited the South Pole, and became one of 140 people in history who managed to do it.

After her interview for TED where Jade encouraged women to be brave and do what they wanted, men posted lots of scornful comments saying, “Hey, make me a sandwich,” implying women should stay in the kitchen. On her Facebook profile, Jade posted a picture with a witty comment, “I made you a sandwich (ham and cheese), now ski 37 days and 370 miles to the South Pole and you can eat it.”

4. A woman stopped a runaway school bus and saved the children on it.

In New Mexico, Rhonda Carlsen and her daughter were waiting for a school bus when they noticed there was something wrong with the driver (it appeared that he had a seizure.) Rhonda ran alongside the moving bus and coaxed students inside the bus to pull the lever that opened the door. Then the woman was able to hit the brakes and bring the bus to a stop. Thanks to her quick reaction, no one was hurt.

3. A bartender had been working in a luxury hotel for 15 years and no one knew that he was almost 100% blind.

Saliya Kahawatte had always dreamt of becoming a bartender. But as a child, he lost 90% of his vision. He decided to make his dream come true and started working in a luxury hotel by keeping his condition a secret. He used to stay late at work to learn to tell the difference between bottles with beverages by touch. Saliya was really stressed and lived in chronic worry and fear that his secret could be revealed but he managed to overcome his depression and wrote a book called My Blind Date with Life. There’s also a film of the same name that’s based on Saliya’s story.

2. An athlete in a wheelchair stopped a thief who stole a woman’s bag.

Alexander Ronis is a volleyball athlete who’s in a wheelchair. Once, he saw a robber who had just stolen a woman’s bag: With the help of another man, Alexander caught the criminal and returned the purse to the woman. A film director from Russia was really inspired by this story and decided to shoot a film that later won an award at the Manhattan shorts film festival.

1. A 15-year-old student disarmed a criminal with a knife.

Ekaterina from Russia was coming home when she noticed 3 men fighting: one of them was stabbing 2 others. The girl had been practicing martial arts for 2 years so she didn’t hesitate, ran up to the criminal, grabbed his knife, twisted his arm (though he was resisting), and waited for the police.

Bonus: a mother who just wanted to help her child become more confident.

9-year-old Carter Blanchard always told his mother Stephanie that he hated his face. Carter suffers from Vitiligo, a rare skin disorder when the skin develops pink or white patches. But Stephanie decided to do her best and prove to her son that he wasn’t ugly but unique. Once, on Facebook, she saw Rowdy, a dog that became famous thanks to his interesting coat. She showed the dog to her son and he was really excited to see a dog that was famous for his Vitiligo. Internet users organized a meeting for the boy and the 14-year-old dog. Nowadays, Carter doesn’t hate his skin anymore.

Have you ever done something heroic? Maybe you’ve witnessed someone risking their lives to help others? Share your stories with us in the comments!